


necessary things

by halfwheeze



Category: Buzzfeed: The Try Guys
Genre: Cafe AU, M/M, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-08
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2019-01-31 00:29:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12664617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfwheeze/pseuds/halfwheeze
Summary: Unfortunate one-liners and sunglasses inside aside, Zach could get used to Eugene Lee Yang hanging around.





	necessary things

**Author's Note:**

> I got frustrated at the lack of zagene content ok

It's a normal day at work, smiling at strangers and telling Ella what drinks they want and using the secret language of eye contact and vague gestures they've made to complain about their patrons. There's a bit of a slump after the post lunch rush as Zach likes to call it, the flurry of activity as people try to get their caffeine fix before rushing back to work. Zach drinks coffee all day and gets paid for it, so he doesn't mind his job so much most days. And, he gets to work with his best friend, who just so happens to own the coffee shop anyway. It's during the slump, when Ella is on her break, that an unusually attractive man comes in with three friends, two men and a smaller woman; he's weirdly well dressed to just be meandering around town as well.

"Hey, can I get uhhhh date with you?" the guy asks, his eyebrows raised so Zach can see them over his I'm-inside-but-I'm-still-wearing-these-for-some-reason sunglasses. Zach barely stifles his laughter - he's not supposed to laugh at customers, even when they're ridiculous, and just smiles over the counter. The guy waits for a second, like that was a real life thing to ask a real life person. "Okay, maybe not, can I get a caramel macchiato?" he asks instead, taking the sunglasses off and putting them in the pocket of his possibly a suit jacket. He covers it well, but Zach thinks he might be genuinely disappointed, and he kind of wants to fix it.

"Yes on the macchiato, maybe on the date. What's your name?" Zach asks as he rings the guy up, not making any direct eye contact. Despite weirdly attractive guy making the proverbial first move, Zach isn't confident enough about himself to assume it wasn't a joke yet. It's only when he looks up, however, that he sees the blush darkening the guy's cheeks prettily, and then he watches as the guy blinks and recovers. He's cute as well as smoking hot, and Zach is probably a goner.

"I'm Eugene. Eugene Lee Yang. And you are?" Eugene questions, obviously ignoring Zach's nametag; Zach can't decide if he likes that or not. It gives Zach the opportunity of properly introducing himself, which he usually doesn't get when working, but it's also a little weird. Eugene's friends still haven't walked up to the counter to order anything, so Zach goes about making Eugene's coffee before even thinking of their orders and what they might be.

"Kornfeld. Zach Kornfeld. And that was probably the worst Bond reference of my life - it's probably bad that I have other horrible Bond references to compare it to, isn't it?" Zach laughs self-deprecatingly, assuming that Eugene would laugh along with him. He does, and it's a beautiful sound that Zach may or may not want to make happen all the time for like the rest of forever, just a concept. If Ella comes back before Eugene leaves, she's going to give him hella shit for this falling for a dude in five seconds shit. It's going to be great.

"I thought it was kind of smooth, in a nerdy way. What do you do for fun, Kornfeld, Zach Kornfeld?" Eugene asks, all but batting his eyelashes over the counter. He's funny and hot and cute, and Zach really thought he wasn't going to forgive the first thing but here he is, weak as fuck. He made a joke from Zach's joke without making fun of Zach and so few people can do that successfully, like there's Ella and his grandmother and now this random guy.

"I - I was trying to come up with literally anything to say that would make me sound less lame, but I can't so here we are. I - uh - I'm a youtuber. Started it after I started working for Ella, so I'm still working here - I only kinda need to. I - uh - I mostly make videos about my life, about my dog, videos where I complain about various things in my life - apparently that's entertaining for some people. I've been talking for a long time, haven't I? What do you do for fun, Eugene Lee Yang?" Zach rambles, putting the syrup into the bottom of Eugene's cup distractedly. He pours in the coffee over it before looking back up at Eugene, who seems to be smiling fondly.

"I'm a writer for me and a model for money, if that makes sense. I want to write plays and shit, but I haven't gotten there yet. I binge watch Netflix shows and eat too much Thai food in my apartment. I go to clubs, but I don't know if I'll be doing so much of that after today," Eugene says, making eye contact in such an intense way that it's almost aggressive. Zach blushes and looks down at Eugene's coffee before reluctantly handing it over, back at the register once again. He doesn't know what to say as he presses the charge into the cash register, so he doesn't say anything.

"Would you like to maybe... get coffee sometime? Maybe not coffee, but... if I handed you my phone and asked you to put your number in it, would it be the weirdest thing in the world?" Eugene asks, grinning in an awkward and yet still confident manner that Zach only wishes he could copy. Zach nods before realises what that would implicate with the phrasing of the question, and gestures so widely that he nearly knocks over the cup display on the side counter.

"No! It wouldn't be the weirdest thing, I - I would love to go get not-coffee sometime," Zach says, panic slowly sinking back down into his abdomen instead of crawling up his chest. Eugene goes from grinning to beaming attractively, crow's feet making themselves apparent around his eyes, and it strikes Zach once again how very pretty the other an is. Still smiling, Eugene grabs his phone out of one of his back pockets and unlocks it, sliding it across the counter rather than handing it directly to Zach.

"I'll see you later, Kornfeld, Zach Kornfeld," Eugene tells him, giving him a two finger salute before walking out of the building. Zach is almost disappointed until he hears his phone ding from the other counter where it's sitting simply charging rather than put away. If Eugene were still in the building, Zach would be embarrassed at how he jumps on the device. It's a text from a number he doesn't know:

_(***)***-****: When do you get off?_

//

_Twenty minutes earlier._

"Guy in there, totally your type, he always works right now, you'll love him, twenty dollar bet you won't get a date with him," Quinta says, stubborn mouth set in a frown. Eugene rolls his eyes but links pinkies with her before shifting it into a fist bump, their own version of a middle schooler's best friends handshake. Ned, Eugene's friend, and Quinta's boyfriend of the last couple of weeks (Eugene isn't one hundred percent sure on his name) look on in vague disinterest.

"Conditions?" he asks, holding back on a wince. He knows they'll be unfortunate.

"Use the worst line you can think of."

**Author's Note:**

> Leave me prompts @halfwheeze on tumblr if you want!


End file.
